Rise of the Guardians: Changing Places
by ViolentFluffernutter
Summary: The third and final part of my Guardians Fanfic Saga. Tooth has just given birth to Jack's son, but Pitch has escaped again, and is determined to take everything Jack has for himself.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Get out of the way!" Jack shouted, as he flew through the front door of the North Pole. "Move!"

In his arms, he was carrying his wife, Toothiana Frost, who was whimpering in pain and grasping her swollen stomach.

"Jack, what is going on?" North demanded, rushing up to meet them, sword in hand. "Where is trouble?"

Jack quickly touched down next to the old man and explained, "It's nothing like that. Tooth needs a medical room! Now!"

"Medical room?" North demanded. "Is she hurt?"

"No," Jack answered. "She's giving birth!"

Suddenly, Tooth let out a painful cry, and North's eyes widened in realization.

"This way!" he shouted, turning and hurrying down the hallway, shoving yetis out his way. He practically knocked a door off of its hinges opening it, revealing a room with a medical gurney. "Put her on there," he ordered. Jack did so, and stepped back, a frightened look on his face. Tooth let out another cry.

"Oh, it's coming!" she screamed.

"Tooth, you are going to be all right!" North said, standing over her. Turning to Jack, he said it again, "She's going to be just fine."

Frantic with worry, Jack sat down in a nearby chair and grabbed his silver hair in his fists, almost pulling it out.

"Now, Tooth," North instructed, "When I say push, I want you to push as hard as you can!"

Tooth managed to give a weak nod, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Good, now push!"

Tooth screamed!

00000

Five hours later, the other two guardians waited in the hallway. Sandman was drifting back and forth agitated. He had long since chewed his fingernails off, and had now resorted to gnawing on his fingers. Bunnymund, at first glance, seemed impassive, though anybody who knew him well could tell he was just as nervous as Sandy by the rhythmic thumping of his right foot, and the twitch of his ears. It had been awhile since they'd heard any noise out of Tooth. Sandy floated over and tapped Bunnymund's shoulder, gesturing towards the door.

"No, mate," the giant rabbit responded. "Whatever's going on in there, they'll tell us to come in when they're ready."

At that moment, though, the door swung open, and Jack came out. In his arms, he held a tiny bundle, wrapped in a light blue blanket. On his face stretched the widest grin they'd ever seen on him. Slowly, he made his way over to his friends and extended his arms and unwrapped the child's head for them to see.

The baby boy's skin was pale white, like his father's. But instead of hair, his head had a healthy dose of fuzz on it, like a baby bird. It, too, was pure white.

"He's got wings like his mother, too," Jack explained. "And his eyes are purple!"

"What's the little tyke's name?" Bunnymund asked.

"Frostbite," Jack answered. He chuckled a little. "And he does have quite a bite on him!"

Reaching out, he gently pulled his son's top lip up, revealing that it was already full of bright white teeth. "I wouldn't have expected anything else from the Tooth Fairy's baby!" He wrapped Frostbite's head up again and held the child close to him.

"Congratulations, mate!" Bunnymund declared, thumping his fellow guardian on the back. "A moment like this deserves a cigar!"

"Oh, I, uh, don't smoke," Jack said, trying to back away.

"Nonsense!" the Easter Bunny argued, fishing a lighter out of his belt. "You've gotta celebrate your son's birthday somehow!" He fished around his belt for a few seconds, "Oops, looks like I forgot my smokes back at the burrow."

"I never thought of you as the smoking type," Jack said.

"Only on very special occasions, mate!" He tossed Jack his lighter, "Here, hold this. I'll be back in a flash!" Without another word, he turned and dashed away.

Sandy, as silent as ever, rolled his eyes at the oversized bunny, and turned back to Jack. He floated upwards until he was at the same height as the baby. Waving his hand over Frostbite's face, he let some of his magical dream sand fall onto the newborn. With a soft coo, Jack's son's lips curved upwards in a small smile.

"Thanks, Sandy," said Jack. "That means a lot to me."

Nodding, Sandy drifted backwards, giving Jack permission to go back into the medical room with his wife. Tooth was laying on the gurney, propped up into a sitting position. For a moment, the memory of the last time she had been in here flashed before Jack's eyes. The night she had been attacked by her brother, Fangen, and had lost her wing. But no, now wasn't the time to think about that. His beloved wife had just given birth to their first child!

Sitting down next to her bed, Jack held out the child and let Tooth take him before leaning in and planted a small kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Don't thank me," she said, a tired smile on her face. "You helped too, even if I did all the hard work."

"True enough," Jack agreed, his usual playful smirk returning.

"Urgh," Tooth groaned. "I'm really not looking forward to tomorrow. Work is gonna be even harder than normal."

"What?" Jack demanded, standing up. "Back to work tomorrow? Nuh-uh, no way! You need your rest after that."

"Jack, I have to do my duties!" Tooth insisted. "I can't let things pile up."

"Which is why I'm going to be doing them for you for the next week," Jack grinned. Bowing, he said, "Jack Frost, substitute Tooth Fairy, at your service!"

This got a laugh out of Tooth, "Are you sure?" she asked. "You've never done that before."

"Completely! Don't worry, everything will be fine. Just stay here and rest, and I'll take care of everything."

"Well, all right," Tooth reluctantly agreed. Her hesitance vanished, though, when Frostbite woke up and began to cry. A motherly smile appeared on her face, and she held the baby closer.

"I'll get going then," Jack said, leaning in to plant another kiss on his wife's cheek before making his way towards the window.

"Be careful," Tooth warned him.

"Of what?" Jack asked, pausing.

"I… don't know," she admitted. "Just be careful."

"Will do, Snowball," he agreed, using his pet name for her before launching himself through the open window, towards Tooth Palace.

00000

Jack's heart soared as he rode on the wind. Everything dream he'd ever had had come true. He had the best friends he could ever ask for, plenty of believers, a loving wife, and now he even had a son! What more could he possibly ask for? His life was perfect!

He realized the folly of his thoughts the moment they ran through his head as a wave of fear sent chills down his spine- and not the good kind! He smacked himself on the forehead. The first rule in life is to never, EVER, say that something is perfect, because that's just an invitation for fate to intervene.

A high pitched neigh came from somewhere to his left, and Jack froze in midair. Could it be? No way, there was absolutely no way-

Out of nowhere, a blur of black sand shot past him, blasting him with a mind numbing wave of terror. A nightmare! That could only mean one thing. But how could it be? Whatever the case, there was only one thing for it. Without a second thought, Jack chased after it.

The nightmare didn't seem to be trying to outrun him. It would fly just out of his reach, and then stop, waiting for him to catch up before slipping away again. It was almost as if it was trying to lead Jack somewhere. Unfortunately, the winter spirit never realized this.

Eventually, Jack chased the fearful horse all the way to the ground, right into the middle of a forest. The moment his feet touched the ground, the nightmare vanished. Jack was only mildly disappointed, though. Judging by the pounding of his heart and the cold sweat running down his forehead, there could be no mistaking who was nearby.

"Pitch!" he called out. "I know you're here! Come on out!"

Looking down, Jack noticed that all of the shadows cast by the trees were suddenly abandoning their posts and congregating to a single spot. They all joined together into one large shadow, which slowly rose off the ground in a thin pole. It forked at the top into two more tendrils, and a gray skinned heard formed between them.

"Hello, Jack," Pitch said in his smooth, oily voice. "It's been a long time. Five years, if I remember correctly. You locked me underground with an army of nightmares that had been turned against me."

A smug grin broke out across Jack's face, and he held his staff at the ready, "You're not still mad about that, are you?"

"Yes," Pitch growled. "Yes, I am."

"Whatever," Jack charged his staff with his icy powers, "I'm going to give you till the count of three to get out of here."

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere, Jack," Pitch said. Hands clenched into fists, he began to make his way towards Jack.

"Three!" Jack shouted, and shot a bolt of freezing lightning at the boogeyman. Pitch was already gone, though, having slipped into the shadows once again. Before Jack could react, seven nightmares appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and tackled him, knocking his staff out of his grip. Jack thrashed and fought with all his might, but he just couldn't match the strength of seven horses. The black sand making up their bodies dispersed, swirling around Jack in a shadowy sandstorm. It lifted him off of the ground, until he was hanging in midair, directly in front of Pitch.

"It's not fair, Jack!" the fear feeder snarled. "Everything you have… It should all be mine!"

"Yeah, right!" Jack spat.

"Insolent boy, you never did learn how to properly respect your enemies." Pitch reached out and grabbed Jack's face and forced him to look into his eyes. "I can see your fear, Jack Frost. I can see what you're afraid of more than anything else. You fear losing everything that you've worked so hard to gain. You're terrified of going back to being nothing like before." His eyes began glow a sickening yellow, "Everything you fear is exactly what you deserve, Jack Frost," he growled. "And everything you have, I deserve!"

He released Jack's face and placed his palm on the boy's chest, his eyes glowing even brighter. An uncomfortable tingle filled the air, making Jack's hair stand on end. He instantly recognized the unnatural magic that Pitch was summoning.

"Pitch, what are you doing?" he yelled. "Stop!"

But the villain ignored him, and instead began to speak.

"Erase the reason, destroy the rhyme,

Reverse the clock, and turn back time,

Now shall we exchange our lines,

Give me now what should be mine!"

Suddenly, Jack felt himself falling. Darkness was everywhere. Everything was gone. He was gone. He was nothing…

The last thing he heard was Pitch's manic laughter echoing in the shadows around him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Jack groaned as he felt consciousness slowly return to him. He was lying on something hard. It felt like stone. And his whole body ached, as if someone had turned him inside out twice and then beat him several times against a rock. He managed to open his eyes, and found himself lying on the floor of a dark cave. That's funny, he thought. There wasn't a speck of light in the cave, yet he had no trouble seeing. Placing his hands underneath him, he hoisted himself off of the floor into a sitting position. This cave was familiar, he'd been here before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. More importantly, how did he get here? Where had he been before he went to sleep?

A soft whinney came from behind him, and Jack whipped around, his staff ready to defend himself. There, only ten feet away from him, was a nightmare. But instead of attacking him on sight, it merely stood there, looking at him quizzically.

"Is everything all right, Father?" it asked.

Shocked, Jack dropped his staff and stumbled backwards. Since when did nightmares speak? Since never, that's when! He fully expected the nightmare to take advantage of his surprise, but it only stepped forward, a concerned expression on its face.

"Father, what's wrong?" it asked.

It's voice was like a whisper in his mind, cold and malicious by nature, yet somehow worried for Jack's sake.

"How do you know how to talk?" Jack demanded, springing back to his feet.

"We can all talk, Father," the nightmare answered. "We always could."

At that moment, Jack realized that he was surrounded by the black sand horses, though not a single one of them made a move to attack him. He turned back to look at the first nightmare.

"Why do you keep calling me Father?" he asked.

"Because you made us, Father," the creature responded. "You transformed us from the Sandman's horrid sweet dreams into what we are today."

"What?" Jack shouted. "No I didn't! That was Pitch! Pitch Black!"

Upon saying those words, Jack suddenly realized where he was. This was Pitch's cave! And if he was in Pitch's cave, that meant the Boogeyman would soon be here to deal with him.

"I have never heard that name, Father," the nightmare responded.

"Don't give me that!" Jack spat. "You and I are enemies! You serve Pitch Black, the one who wants to overrun the world with horrible dreams! I defeated him and all of you five years ago!"

The nightmare took a step towards Jack, "Father, are you all right? You're acting strange."

"I am not your father!" Jack yelled, lashing out at the nightmare and scattering the sand that made its face. Shocked, the nightmare hastened to away from Jack. As its face reformed, Jack saw genuine hurt in its eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," it stammered. "I won't do it again!"

Despite himself, Jack suddenly felt bad for striking the nightmare. No, he told himself. Don't feel sorry for it! It's a servant of your enemy! Walking forward tentatively, causing the closest nightmares to back away in fear, he picked his staff up again.

Wait a minute…

Jack did a double take, hardly able to believe what he saw before his eyes. In his hands wasn't the crooked staff he always carried, it was a scythe! Letting out a frightened yelp, he dropped it and quickly backed away.

"That's not mine!" he shouted. "Where's my staff?"

"Staff?" another nightmare asked, though it seemed afraid that Jack would strike it as well. "You've never had a staff, Father. You've always carried your scythe."

"No!" Jack shouted, pointing at the nightmare accusingly, "You're lying! Now tell me where…"

He stopped because he'd just caught sight of his sleeve. Even in the absolute darkness, which he still couldn't understand how he could see through, he could tell that he was no longer wearing his usual blue hoodie. This sleeve was black. He looked down and almost shouted in fright again. He looked like he was ready to go to a funeral! A black suit jacket with a crisp white shirt underneath it. A blood-red tie hung from his neck.

"What in the world?" Jack asked out loud, panic building up in his chest. He turned to glare at the nightmares again, "Where's a mirror? Get me a mirror!"

Immediately, three nightmares joined together and hardened themselves into a sheet of black glass. Jack hurried over to it, and looked at his reflection.

This time, he couldn't keep his scream within himself, and it echoed through the cave like the shrill cry of a dying banshee.

His hair, which had never once in his 300 years changed from the wintery silver he had awoken with, was now completely black. His skin was a sickly gray color. But it was his eyes that gave him the biggest shock. Neither of them had irises anymore, and they both glowed a putrid dark yellow. When he opened his mouth to scream, he was dismayed to see two large fangs reaching past the rest of his teeth. His previous assessment had been wrong. He didn't look like he was going to a funeral, it looked like he was ready for one!

"No!" he cried, slamming his fist into the mirror, cracking it. "No, no, no! What have you done to me?"

"Father, please calm down!" a nightmare begged, daring to come close to him.

"No, don't tell me to calm down!" Jack roared, advancing on the nightmare. Without even realizing what he was doing, he flexed his hand, and his scythe flew into it. Before he could comprehend his actions, he swung the scythe, the blade slicing into the nightmare's neck, causing it to explode in a flurry of black sand, with one last dismayed neigh. With a jolt, Jack realized what he had done, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care. He spun around to face another nightmare, and held out his scythe. "I don't know what you did to me, and I don't care! Change me back this instant!"

"Father, please!" the nightmare begged. "We haven't done anything to you!"

"Stop calling me father!" Jack roared, raising the scythe above his head.

"Jaggo!" the nightmare cried. "Please, Jaggo, don't kill me!"

Something in Jack's mind clicked when it heard those words. Slowly, he lowered his scythe, and glared at the nightmare.

"What did you call me?"

"I called you by your name," the nightmare explained as quickly as it could. "That's who you are! Don't you remember? You're Jaggo Lantyrn, the Boogeyman!"

Jack's eyes grew wide in horror as comprehension finally dawned on him. The rhyme that Pitch had recited just before he passed out. What had it said?

_Reverse the clock and turn back time,_

_And give me now what should be mine._

Sheer unadulterated panic took over Jack's mind as he realized exactly what Pitch had done.

"Get away from me!" he shouted, holding his scythe out in front of him again. The nightmares backed away again, allowing Jack enough room to run away. He didn't know where he was going, but he chose a random tunnel and ran into it. Pitch's threat had come true. He'd brought Jack's greatest fear to life.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

When Jack (_Jaggo_) was certain that the nightmares were not making any attempt to follow him, he finally stopped. His breathing was ragged, and he felt the sting of tears in his eyes. How could this have happened? He'd finally gotten everything he'd ever wanted! It was just too much to bear, and he fell to his knees, sobbing quietly.

But if he was here, then what was going on with Tooth? Jack's eyes widened in horror again. If Pitch meant to trade places with him, then he would surely be somewhere near the other guardians. And if Jack was no longer Jack Frost, then could it be that Tooth was now…

No! Jack's fear was suddenly replaced by rage. He'd worked too hard, fought too long, and lost too much to lose his bride to that pathetic creep! Getting back to his feet, Jack wondered how he was going to get out of the cave. If he remembered correctly from the last time he'd been here, there should be a tunnel that led all the way to the surface somewhere. Taking off at a run, Jack began to search every passage, his eyes never leaving the roof. After a few minutes of this, he finally spotted it. A beam of sweet, fresh sunlight pierced the accursed darkness. Jack ran to stand in it, and willed the wind to carry him up and out of the underground prison.

Nothing happened…

Confused, Jack looked down to see if anything was holding his feet to the ground. There wasn't, and he brushed it off as a lack of concentration, and attempted to rocket skywards again. Still nothing. Fear rising up within him once more, Jack began to wildly wave his arms in flapping motions, desperately trying to figure out why the wind, who had been his friend for over 300 years, had suddenly betrayed him.

And then it occurred to him. The wind, that blessed pathway through the sky that he and he alone could tame, had been friends with Jack Frost. And, if the nightmares spoke the truth, he was no longer Jack Frost.

_Jaggo Lantyrn_.

No! Dismayed, Jack began to beat the sides of his head with his fists. Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could he have let this happen? If he'd just done what he'd told Tooth he was going to do, none of this wouldn't have happened! She'd even warned him to be careful, and he'd ignored it. He should have known better than that. She'd made it clear that she had some sort of a sixth sense that warned her when danger was approaching. Maybe she and North's belly could have had a conference…

No, no, no! Now was not the time for jokes! He frantically surveyed the walls, looking for something to grab onto that would let him climb out, but there was nothing. Come on, he urged himself. Pitch had lived down here for longer than Jack had even been alive, so there had to have been some way for him to get out! An image from before flashed through Jack's mind. All the shadows in the forest had joined together to form Pitch's body.

Jack snapped his fingers. That was it! Pitch was able to move around by transforming into his own shadow! But how did he do it? Unlike Pitch, Jack hadn't had thousands of years to perfect his Boogeyman abilities… He shivered a bit just from the thought.

Walking towards the wall, Jack reached out and placed his hand on it. Now what? He pushed against the stone, hoping his hand would sink into it somehow, but nothing happened. He located his real shadow from the beam of light and touched it, hoping the two of them would join together. Again, nothing.

"Argh!" Jack exclaimed, his voice suddenly distorting into a monstrous growl. "I just want to become a shadow!" he yelled at the wall, "Is that too much to ask!" In his anger, he lashed out to punch the wall. Instead of his fist striking the hard stone and shattering the bones, though, it passed straight through! Stunned for a moment, Jack suddenly realized what had happened. Much like his old powers, he surmised, Pitch's powers must have been activated by thought. Without another moment's hesitation, Jack walked into the wall, becoming a shadow for the very first time.

It was a very strange feeling, being a shadow. Being only two dimensional, Jack's first reaction was that he was being crushed between two walls, with absolutely no room to move between them. After a few moments, though, he came to realize that there was nothing on him to crush. He moved around a bit. Weird! He could move from side to side, and even turn, but he could not move back and forth at all. Finally feeling adequately comfortable with his shadowy form, Jack allowed himself to slide up the wall, into the sunlight. No real movement was needed, he only needed to will himself to go where he wanted. It was, he thought with a jab of pain in his heart, a lot like flying.

Once he had finally made his way out of Pitch's infernal hole, it took Jack only a moment to get his bearings and slithered off in the direction of Tooth Palace. He wasn't sure what exactly what the situation was with Toothiana right now, but unless the events of his past life were being played out exactly as they had for him, then there was a better chance of finding her at her home than the Pole.

It took a surprisingly small amount of time for Jack to reach the palace. It's hanging structures all glittered brightly, just as he remembered them. That was good, so at least Pitch hadn't ruined anything while masquerading as him. The little fairies fluttered about, doing their work, apparently unaware of his presence. Sliding into a standing position on a nearby wall, Jack stepped out of his shadow.

Immediately, all of the little fairies froze. For a moment, they weren't able to understand the sudden overwhelming wave of terror that had come over them, but then, one by one, they all turned to look directly at him.

"Where's Toothiana?" Jack asked urgently. "I need to speak with her right away!"

Squeaking in fright, all the nearest fairy's eyes widened in horror, and turned and flew in the other direction as quickly as it could. As if they had only been waiting for permission, all the other fairies suddenly scattered as well, trying their best to get away from Jack, but the panic that filled their hearts making it difficult to think straight.

"What's going on out here?" he heard a familiar voice shout. In a flash of blue and green, his beautiful wife appeared, flying around the palace, trying to soothe her fairies. One of them frantically pointed at Jack. Seeing him, Tooth's face immediately turned pale, and her hands covered her mouth.

"Toothiana, it's me!" Jack called. "I need your help. Pitch has…"

"No, no, not again!" Tooth screeched in terror. Without another word, she turned tail and flew away.

"No, Tooth, wait!" Jack called after her. He couldn't let her get away! He sunk back into the wall again, just in time to see the northern lights appear over Tooth Palace.

Uh oh…

As quickly as he could, Jack maneuvered his shadow to where he knew Tooth's personal quarters to be, and emerged once again on her front porch. He ran to open the door, but it burst open before he could reach it, and Tooth shot out of it, straight at him! Her fist struck his mouth, knocking Jack to the ground. The angry fairy stood over him now, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Not this time!" she yelled at him, raising her fist to strike him again. "How many of your teeth do I have to knock out before you learn your lesson?"

"Toothiana, wait!" Jack pleaded, though he knew his current appearance wouldn't give her much to feel pity for.

"Shut up, Jaggo!" She screamed. "You're not getting my teeth this time!"

Given no other choice, Jack sank back into the floor just in time to avoid Tooth's fist. Jack slithered behind her and rose up once again.

"Tooth, please! I know this looks bad, but just hear me out, I'm begging you!"

Before she could respond, there was a blinding flash of rainbow light, and North's sleigh shot out of the portal he had cast. He banked sharply to the side, and Jack had hardly enough time to duck to avoid being gored by his reindeer's antlers. The large man inside stood up and, leaving the reindeer to guide themselves, leaped out of the sleigh, sword drawn. Jack instinctively raised his scythe to block the blade, but the surprisingly nimble swordsman quickly drew another and attempted to strike his unprotected area. Jack thrust outwards with his scythe, shoving the first sword away, and managed to block North's second attack just before it cut into his stomach.

"You should not have come back, Jaggo!" the old man snarled, raising both of his swords for a devastating attack. Jack knew how powerful that slash would be, and he immediately jumped backwards, out of the blades' reach.

"No, stop!" he begged. "Please, just listen to me!"

"You have nothing to say that I want to hear!" North retorted before charging at Jack again. Before he had reached him, though, a nightmare rammed into his side, knocking him off of his feet. Suddenly, what seemed like every nightmare in existence was flooding into Tooth Palace, their dark sands blotting out the sun.

Jack's eyes widened with horror, "No, stop!" he shouted again. "I didn't tell you to attack!"

But it was too late. The nightmares could smell the little fairies' fear, and had momentarily lost interest in obeying their "father." North and Tooth's attention was momentarily diverted as they turned to ward off the attacking sand horses, which at least gave Jack a moment to gather his thoughts again.

It was obvious that these two had absolutely no idea who he was. Would he have any more luck with the other guardians? It seemed unlikely, but he had no other choice. Unfortunately, he wouldn't have long to wait to find out.

An airplane made out of Sandy's golden dream sand gracefully flew into Tooth Palace, the Sandman himself in the cockpit. Pulling a pair of sand goggles over his eyes, he reached up and grasped a machine gun. Pulling the trigger, it began to shoot tiny bullets of golden sand at the nightmares. Those that were struck immediately turned back into golden sand and flew up to join Sandy. That was good, Jack thought, but it left him with fewer followers to aid him, which in his current predicament probably wasn't a good thing. Jack suddenly heard the ground behind him rumble a bit, which could only mean-

Jack's head was suddenly propelled forward, into the ground, with all the force Bunnymund could put into his kick.

"I thought we got rid of you for good last time, Lantyrn!" the oversized rabbit said.

"Bunny, don't!" Jack begged, though he fully expected nothing to come of it. "There's been a mistake, you have to help me!"

"I don't hafta do nothing!" Bunnymund replied. "And only my friends call me Bunny!"

Bunnymund raised both of his hands. One held one of his signature boomerangs, and the other carried three egg bombs. Jack knew from experience just how much damage he could do with both. Not allowing himself time to think about his actions, Jack swung his scythe out, the stick knocking his furry friend's feet out from under him. To Jack's dismay, the egg bombs went off in Bunnymund's face the moment they struck the ground.

"Sorry!" he said, knowing it wouldn't mean a thing to his former friends. Looking up, he saw the other three guardians converging on him. It seemed that the nightmare attack had been quelled, at least for the moment.

"Guys, please don't do this!" he begged, tears threatening to break free of his eyes again. "You don't understand!"

"All we need to understand is that you've come back again, Jaggo," North growled. "And it is our job to make sure you don't have the chance to repeat what you did last time!"

"No, no, no!" Jack pleaded, backing away from his foes. His back pressed itself up against the wall. There was nothing else for it, he decided. He was getting nowhere trying to talk to these guys. He began to sank into the wall once again, intending to make a run for it.

"He's getting away!" Tooth shouted.

Jack was almost all the way inside the wall, with only his head and shoulders still poking out of it, when he suddenly felt a blast of cold, and he found himself unable to move.

Out of the sky, like a falcon swooping in at its prey, another person came towards them. Landing gracefully next to North, Tooth, and Sandy, he quickly evaluated the situation.

"Is everybody all right?" he asked.

That voice, Jack would have recognized it anywhere! There before him, right beside three of his own best friends, stood Pitch Black. But he didn't look like the Pitch Jack knew. For one thing, his tight fitting black robe had been had been replaced by a long, flowing, light blue cloak. It was lined in silver, and highlighted his pale skin and silver hair perfectly.

Now was his chance! Jack frantically began trying to speak, but Pitch's ice had frozen his mouth shut. He could only watch and listen as North explained what had happened to him.

"You've hurt my friend!" Pitch growled, seeing Bunnymund lying unconscious on the ground. He turned and pointed at Jack in anger, "I should freeze you so hard that you'll never be able to move again!"

"Mmph, mmph!" Jack mumbled, the only thing he was able to say within his icy bonds.

"Silence, you filthy fearmonger!" Pitch yelled.

"Take it easy, Winter," North consoled him. "We need to bring him back to the Pole to find out what he's up to."

For a moment, Pitch's eyes widened in dismay, but only Jack noticed it, "No, we should finish him off here and now. If we keep him around, he'll just find a way to break free and cause more trouble. Taking him to the Pole itself is the worst thing we could do!"

"Winter Storm," Tooth exclaimed, "when are you going to learn that you are not in charge of this group? We're a team, and none of us do things without the others approval."

Pitch turned to glance at the fairy in annoyance. Despite all that had happened, Jack took some comfort in this, because it was obvious that Pitch and Tooth did not share the bond that they had before all this began. And what had they called him? Winter Storm? If Jack could speak, he would have laughed at that. How unoriginal could the guy get?

"Very well," Pitch agreed reluctantly. "We'll take him to the Pole for interrogation, but I insist I be the one to guard him!"

"Agreed," North said. He pulled out another snow globe and threw it at Jack. There was a bright flash, and Jack felt himself be sucked into the portal.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Mmph!" Jack tried to yell as he found himself plummeting face first towards the floor. He landed hard, having taken the chunk of the wall he was stuck in with him, but at least he heard the ice around his face crack from the impact. A large, fuzzy hand immediately grabbed the chunk of wall, and flipped it over, and Jack found himself face to face with three angry yetis. One of them pointed at Jack's face and yelled at him in its garbled language. Jack flexed his jaw, making the ice around it fall away.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," he replied.

"He says he is not happy to see you, Jaggo," North translated as he, too stepped through the portal, followed by the others. He had Bunnymund, still unconscious, slung over his shoulder.

"I'll take it from here," Pitch decided. He pointed to the two yetis, "You two, pick that thing up and take it to the prison cell!"

"Hey, I'm right here, you know!" Jack called.

"Silence!" Pitch thundered, a blast of icy wind hitting Jack in the face.

North obviously wasn't pleased that "Winter Storm" was giving his yetis commands, but he didn't say anything as they picked up Wall-Jack and carried him away.

When Jack had been rudely thrown into a cell and the door locked, the yetis trudged away, and Pitch came to stand guard. He smiled cruelly at Jack, helplessly trapped inside his chunk of wall.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," he purred.

"Winter Storm?" Jack asked. "Is that seriously the best you could come up with? I mean, not that Pitch Black was any better, but at least it was better than Winter Storm."

"Laugh all you want, Jaggo Lantyrn," Pitch spat Jack's new name as if it burned his tongue. "I've still got that I wanted, and you still have what you deserve!"

"I don't know if you noticed, but they don't exactly seem to like you very much."

Pitch growled, and muttered something about all things being fixed in time, and turned away from the cell.

00000

Bunnymund snorted and coughed in disgust as North waved a bar of smelling salts beneath his nose. Suddenly, he gave a violent jerk and sat up straight, sneezing loudly.

"Egads, mate!" he yelled, wiping his nose on his furry arm. "You think those smell bad to you, try giving them a sniff with a rabbit's nose!" After one more sneeze, he asked, "Well, what happened?"

"Winter arrived just in time to capture Jaggo after you were knocked out," Tooth explained. "He's here at the pole with us, in the prison cell."

"Jaggo Lantyrn?" Bunny echoed, suddenly getting a faraway look in his eyes.

"You remember fight, yes?" North asked.

"Yeah, I remember it," Bunnymund confirmed. "It's just I… I think Manny gave me a vision while I was out."

"A vision?" North repeated. "Of what?"

"I don't know, but it looked like Jaggo. Except that he didn't look like Jaggo. He still looked the same, I mean, but all his colors were changed."

"What are you talking about?" Tooth asked, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I mean that, well," Bunnymund paused. "Take Winter's colors, and put them on Jaggo. Same color skin, hair, eyes, clothes, that's what I saw. And he didn't have a scythe, either. He had a really big cane."

North exchanged glances with Tooth and Sandy, "What do you think this means?" he asked.

A question mark appeared in sand over Sandy's head. Tooth shrugged.

"There was one other thing," Bunny interjected. He turned to look at Tooth, "I saw you. You were there, talking to him. And you…" He stopped, embarrassed.

"I what?" tooth asked.

"Well… you kissed him," Bunnymund finished, gritting his teeth in embarrassment.

For a moment, everyone was silent, then Tooth said, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"This is not necessarily vision from Manny, though," North pointed out. "May have just been dream. Sandy, are you sure you didn't drop any weird sand on Bunny while he was asleep?"

The Sandman shook his head.

"I dunno what it was," Bunnymund admitted, "but it sure felt like it was important."

Once again, the other three guardians exchanged glances.

"We will have to discuss this more," North decided. "But for now, we need to find out what Jaggo is up to. Hopefully he'll have already said something to Winter."

At that moment, Winter Storm came to join them.

"Sandman, I need you to come with me right now," he ordered.

Sandy made another question mark appear over his head.

"Jaggo has refused to answer any of my questions. I know for a fact that he doesn't like being touched by your golden sand, it's like acid to him, so I want you to come with me and use it on him until he talks."

"Now wait just a minute!" North exclaimed. "We are guardians, protectors of the innocent, not barbarians who torture our captives!"

"North, every moment we wait, that monster's plan could be getting closer to completion!" Winter argued. "I'm not willing to lose everything that we stand for just because you're too weak to do what needs to be done!"

"I'm not saying we will do nothing," North retorted. "But no torture! Never that! We will think of another way. Come with me."

Without another word, the large man left the room, with Winter following behind him, practically steaming from anger. Giving Tooth and Bunny an uncertain look, Sandy hesitantly drifted after them.

When they were both gone, Tooth took a deep breath.

"You're going to do it, aren't you?" Bunnymund asked. Tooth didn't answer, but her friend understood. "I don't know what's going on here, but be careful."

00000

Before now, Jack wouldn't have thought it was possible for a shadow to go numb, but it was happening to him right now. Having been unable to move his body in the freezing cold wall for so long, his arms and legs were starting to fall asleep. It was strange, for the past 300 years, the sting of cold hadn't bothered him in the slightest. He could even walk barefoot on solid ice without any trouble. But now that same feeling that had always been such a comfort to him was biting into his skin like tiny needles, slowly bringing him closer to the point of freezing.

Pitch had left almost fifteen minutes ago, and had been replaced by the two surly yetis from before. He wasn't sure why the Boogeyman had left, but he figured it couldn't have been anything good, which was why when the door opened again, he fully expected the worst. But it wasn't Pitch who came through the door this time, it was Tooth.

"I've come to relieve you two," she said to the yetis, dismissing them. When they had bumbled out of the room, Tooth closed it and fluttered back over to the bars that separated her and Jack.

"I don't know what you're up to," she said, "but I think it'd be best if I listened to what you were trying to tell me back at Tooth Palace now."

"What?" Jack asked, surprised. "Why?"

"No reason," the Tooth Fairy said, evading the question. "But you seemed desperate to get one of us to listen to you earlier. Now that you can't fight back, I figure there's no reason why I can't listen to you now."

Hope suddenly sprung up in Jack's heart, and he began to explain to her, "I'm not the Boogeyman!"

Tooth gave him a skeptical look, one that clearly said, "You're nuts!"

"No, I'm serious! My name isn't Jaggo Lantyrn, it's Jack Frost," he stopped, searching her face for any sign of recognition, but there was none, so he continued, "Pitch Black, the real Boogeyman, cast a spell on me yesterday that made us switch places. He turned me into the Boogeyman, and he became what I used to be!"

"And what would that be?" Tooth asked.

"He became the man you call Winter Storm."

Tooth's eyes widened in surprise, but she couldn't think of anything to say.

"Please, you've got to believe me!" Jack begged. "When I was Jack Frost, everything was different. The Man in the Moon chose me to help you all defeat Pitch, and then you and I got..." he "topped, unsure of whether he should continue.

Tooth furrowed her eyebrows and flew forward until she was grasping the cell bars, "We got what?" she demanded.

"We… we got married," Jack finished. "We've been married for almost a year, and we even had a little baby boy." He smiled wistfully at Tooth, "We named him Frostbite!"

On Tooth's face was an expression of pure shock. Jack felt his spirits fall. He'd obviously said the wrong thing. When Tooth spoke again, her voice was icy cold.

"How could you say something like that after all you've done to me? To all the guardians? to the children of the world?"

"It's true!" Jack insisted, tears coming out of his eyes. "I swear, every word I've said to you is true!"

"Well, I'm not convinced!" Tooth hissed, and turned to fly out of the room.

Without even realizing what was coming out of his mouth, Jack called out to her, "How's your brother?"

Toothiana froze in midair, shocked to her core.

"What did you say?" she asked softly.

"Your brother, Fangen," Jack continued, though he could not see this conversation ending well either. "It was about a year ago now, wasn't it? When he came back?"

Tooth turned around to look at Jack in a new light, "How did you know about that?"

"Because I was there!" Jack insisted. "I was there when he came back, and he tried to get his revenge. We all fought him, and you finally managed to get through to him."

"What do you mean get through to him?"

"You talked to him, and you both apologized for what you did to each other. He gave up trying to kill you, and you were both on good terms when he left again. That was… that was just a couple days before we got married."

Tooth was hunched over now, head hanging, her arms hugging her midriff. "You're wrong," she said.

"What?" Jack asked.

"If you really were there like you said, and you really were Winter Storm, then you'd know that Fang never apologized to me, and he never left." She looked up and stared sadly into Jack's eyes, "You'd remember that you killed him!"

Jack's eyes widened in horror. He didn't say anything. What could he say? All he could do was watch, heartbroken, as Tooth turned and slowly fluttered away. Almost immediately after the door had closed behind her, it burst open again, and Pitch returned, the two yetis from before following him.

"Open the door!" he ordered. The yetis hastened to obey.

"What are you doing, Pitch?" Jack asked.

"That is not my name!" he growled. "Take him outside." The yetis picked up Jack's chunk of wall again and carried him away. They brought him outside, and dumped him in the snow.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

As the cold of the snow bit into Jack's face, Pitch came to stand before him, glowering down at him, "The other guardians have forbidden me to take any sort of extreme action against you," he said. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to overrule them here. After all," he raised his hand, a sharp icicle forming in his palm, "they don't have any idea just how dangerous the Boogeyman can be, do they?"

"What are you going to do?" Jack asked, fear rising up in him once again.

"I'm going to end this right now, before you have a chance to ruin everything I've worked so hard for!" His eyes began to glow with hatred again, "Don't worry, this really is the best thing for everyone. After all, Toothiana still has both her wings now, doesn't she?"

Jack gasped at these words as they drove themselves painfully into his heart.

"Now I suggest you close your eyes, Jack," Pitch raised the icicle over his head, "It will all be over before you know it!"

But before he could slay his enemy a green and blue blur slammed into Pitch's side, knocking him to the ground. Jack gasped as he watched Tooth hover over Pitch's prone form, fists clenched by her sides. The other three guardians ran to stand behind her, ready for battle.

"How could you, Winter?" she demanded. "We told you to stay away from him!"

Pitch slowly picked himself up off the ground and glared at her, "So, you would betray me for this miserable creature? You are not worthy to be called a guardian!"

"That's enough, Pitch!" North growled, then paused, as if he didn't understand what he had just said.

"That's… That's not my name!" Pitch said, a hint of fear evident in his voice.

But Tooth wasn't paying attention to him anymore. Instead, she turned to look at Jack. She put her fist to her lip, as if trying to make up her mind about something. Then, without a word, she fluttered over to him and kneeled in the snow beside him. Leaning down, Tooth pressed her face against his, her soft lips embracing his own in a kiss. For the slightest of moments, Jack forgot everything. Nothing had happened, and he was still Jack Frost, and Toothiana was still his wife. But then she pulled away from him, her eyes wide with wonder.

"I… I remember!" she exclaimed. she turned to her fellow guardians, "He's been telling the truth! Jaggos' not the real Boogeyman!" she pointed an accusing finger at Pitch, "He is!"

The other guardians turned back to look at Pitch, and drew their weapons. Pitch's eyes widened in fury, and he slowly rose up into the air, "So, you've all figured it out, then, have you? No matter, I suppose." He raised his arms into the air, "So, I'm not a good enough Jack Frost for you, am I? I'll show you! I'll show you all! You won't think so lowly of me after I've covered the earth in a second ice age!"

Pitch thrust his arms down, and there was a massive explosion of ice and wind! A giant tornado of winter's fury had formed, and Pitch hovered in the center of it, directing its destruction wherever he pleased.

"No!" Tooth screamed, and flew up towards him.

"No, Tooth!" Jack called after her. "Don't!"

But she couldn't hear him above the roar of the wind. Though bits of ice pelted her from all sides, she managed to keep her course, and collided with Pitch, knocking him out of the air. The two of them plummeted to the ground, landing in a heap in the snow. Pitch immediately leaped back to his feet, but Tooth was a bit slower in doing so. Before the dazed fairy could react, Pitch had formed another icicle in his hand, and lunged forward with in.

"NOOOOO!" Jack screamed as he watched the icy spike drive its way through Toothiana's chest, into her heart. Her eyes wide, Tooth gave a gurgle of pain and collapsed to the ground.

The other guardians were too shocked to move, but Jack suddenly felt his body go hot with rage. Summoning strength he never knew he had, he struggled against the ice that kept him locked within the wall until he heard it begin to crack under the strain. With one final flex, the ice shattered, and Jack slipped out of the wall, charging straight at his foe!

Pitch saw him coming, and transformed his blood stained icicle into a sword, which he swung at Jack's neck. Jack flexed his hand, and his scythe came flying into it, and he swung it upwards, deflecting Pitch's attack. He dropped to the ground and kicked Pitch's feet out from under him, and then struck his ice sword again, sending it flying out of his grip. He raised the scythe one more time, intending to drive it straight through Pitch's skull, but another gust of wind struck him, knocking him off of his feet. Pitch got back up and formed two more large icicles, one in each hand, and dove at Jack. Jack rolled out of the way just in time, getting back to his feet in the process, and kicked Pitch in the side, sending him staggering away. Summoning his scythe to his hand again, Jack sprung forward and lashed out with it. Pitch managed to block his attack with an icicle, but it shattered from the force of the blow. Before he could retaliate, Jack swung the scythe again, shattering Pitch's other icicle, and then spun around, kicking Pitch in the cheek and sending him to the ground once more.

Before Pitch could get back up, Jack held out the scythe so that the blade was resting against Pitch's throat. If the Boogeyman made so much as a move, Jack could slice his head off with a flick of his wrist.

He heard a commotion from behind him, and suddenly the other guardians were by his side. North gently nudged Jack to the side, and held his sword over Pitch's heart. Jack looked at him, and the large man nodded his permission. Jack immediately turned and ran from them, to where his fallen bride lay. He dropped to his knees next to her, and gently raised her head up out of the snow. Her eyelids flickered weakly, and a ragged breath came from her mouth.

"I'm sorry," Jack said to her, his voice dripping with grief. "Tooth, I am so sorry!"

"No," she whispered. Her hand reached up and grasped his face. "I'm sorry. I'm the one who forgot about you. But it's not too late. You can still fix this." Then her final breath escaped her lips, and her hand fell to the ground.

"No," Jack begged her. "No, no, please don't do this!" Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he buried his head in her feathery bosom, his heart feeling as if it were being torn apart from the inside out.

But she was right, he realized. There was still a way to fix this! Though it hurt him to do so, Jack stood up and left his poor wife lying there in the snow and slowly walked back over to where North and the others were holding Pitch.

"Tell me how to undo the curse," he ordered.

"Never!" Pitch spat.

Jack's response to this was to reach out and grab Pitch's face. He held it still and forced him to look into his eyes. And then he saw it, the one thing that the new Pitch feared above all else.

"Bunnymund, give me your lighter," he said.

The Easter Bunny reached into his belt and did as instructed. Jack flipped the top off the lighter and held it in front of Pitch's nose. He flicked the trigger, and a tiny flame appeared on top of it. Pitch's eyes immediately dilated in terror, and he struggled to get away from the fire, the one thing that the new winter guardian had to fear.

"Does that frighten you, Pitch?" Jack asked softly. "That tiny little flame?" He thrust it closer to Pitch's face, "Tell me how to undo the curse!"

"N-n-no!" Pitch stammered, sweat beginning to run down his face.

Jack's eyes began to glow their sickening yellow, and the fire grew, exploding out of the lighter's tip as if it had been filled with dynamite! Pitch struggled against his captors to get away, but North and Bunnymund were holding him too tightly.

"Last chance, Pitch!" Jack shouted. "Tell me how to undo the curse!"

"All right, all right!" Pitch screamed, "I'll tell you! Just make the fire go away!"

Jack flipped the cap back onto the lighter, cutting off the flow of fire immediately. North and Bunny allowed Pitch to stand up.

"You- you have to put your hand on my chest and repeat the spell I said to you!"

Nodding, Jack reached out and placed his palm on Pitch's chest, just as he had done to him.

"Erase the reason, destroy the rhyme,

Reverse the clock, and turn back time,

Now shall we exchange our lines,

Give me now what should be mine!"

Just as before, Jack felt himself falling downwards, into darkness, becoming nothing…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Jack found himself waking up once again. Just like before, his body was wracked with pain, but this time there was a spark of hope beneath it that made the momentary suffering worth it. He opened his eyes, and found that he was back in the forest where this had all begun. So it had worked! Jack pushed himself up onto his knees and looked down at himself. Yes, he was dressed in his usual attire again! His ratty blue sweater had never felt so welcoming. And, looking at his hands and arms, he was thrilled to see that he, himself, was back to normal as well! Jack leaped to his feet with a delighted whoop!

But this time, Jack wasn't alone. A soft moan rose from the ground a few feet away from him. Jack turned to look, and saw Pitch lying there. He had returned to normal as well, and was just now regaining consciousness. Jack picked up his trusty staff and went over to meet him.

Pitch heard the approaching footsteps and looked up just in time to be struck in the face by Jack's staff. He was thrown over onto his back, his nose bleeding inky black blood. Above him stood Jack Frost, but not as the Boogeyman had ever seen him before. There was not a trace of humor about him. His usually excited and carefree eyes were now as hard as stone, and as cold as ice. Pitch now saw Jack for what he truly was- not a mischievous winter sprite, but as a full blown force of nature, as dangerous as a knife at one's heart.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't tear you apart," Jack said to him.

Pitch scrambled backwards, but his hands and feet slipped on small patches of ice that had suddenly formed underneath them.

"You- you can't blame me for trying!" he said, his voice high pitched and cowardly. "All I wanted was to be accepted!"

Jacks staff swung out again, striking Pitch on the side of his head, knocking him to the ground once again. He gazed up at Jack Frost, Lord of Winter, his eyes full of terror.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, voice quivering.

"You killed her," Jack whispered, his eyes widening in rage. "You killed the one who means more to me than anyone else in the world!"

"I- I- I didn't mean to! Really! And besides, everything's back to normal now! It's like I never did anything at all!"

Jack's eyes narrowed in anger. For a single, terrifying moment, Pitch thought Jack was going to kill him.

"Run, Pitch," Jack ordered him. "And if I ever see you again, I will cause you so much pain that you will BEG for me to kill you!"

"Yes, yes!" Pitch frantically agreed, staggering to his feet. Without another word, the cowardly fearmonger sank back into the shadows and was gone.

Jack stood where he was for a moment, his tired brain hardly able to comprehend that his struggle was finally over. But there was one thought that spurred him back into motion: Tooth! Raising his staff, Jack's heart raced as the familiar, welcome sensation of being cradled by the wind washed over him, and he shot through the air, back towards the Pole.

Within minutes, he was at North's front door once again. Two yetis, who he instantly recognized as the ones that had held him prisoner earlier, stood at attention and saluted.

"At ease, gentlemen!" Jack said as he pushed the door open and walked inside. He raced through the hallways, leaping over elves and weaving between yetis until he was outside his wife's room, where he found Bunnymund waiting for him.

"Oy, where's you go, Brainfreeze?" the rabbit demanded. "I was gone for five minutes, and when I come back you're already gone!" He pulled out a long cigar, "C'mon, mate, have a smoke to celebrate your new offspring!"

Jack pounced on his friend, bringing them both to the floor.

"You remember me! You rascally rabbit, you remember me!"

"Of course I remember you!" Bunnymund agreed, too surprised to say anything else. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh, I could just kiss you!"

Bunnymund shoved Jack off of him, indignantly, "I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't! What's gotten into you?"

But Jack was no longer interested in talking to the Easter Bunny. He turned towards is wife's room and burst through the door. Inside, he found his wife fast asleep. He stopped for a moment to look at her. After everything she'd gone through, she must have been exhausted. He came to her side and lightly caressed her cheek. For a moment, she didn't move, but then her mouth curved upwards in a smile, and she opened her eyes.

"You did it," she whispered.

"You remember it?" Jack asked.

"Every moment," she propped herself up on her elbows and then flung her arms around her husband's neck, "I am so sorry!" she cried. "How could I have forgotten about you?"

Jack wrapped his arms around his wife's back in return, "It's not your fault," he whispered. "It's nobody's fault but Pitch's, and I don't think he's ever going to bother us again."

Finally releasing her, Jack gently lowered his love back onto the bed, "Now, where's my son?" he asked, his usual grin spreading across his face, "I want to see my son!"

"He is right here!" North declared, coming into the room with them. In his arms he held Frostbite, who was sound asleep. "You weren't here, and since Tooth was bedridden, it was my job to present him to the other legendary creatures. They all showed up about five minutes after you left."

But Jack wasn't listening, he ran up to the old man and took the baby out of his arms. He went back to sit on the side of Tooth's bed so that they could both look at their child. Jack gently stroked Frostbite's fuzz, and he opened his mouth in a giant yawn. Suddenly, Jack felt overcome by happiness, and he held Frostbite to his chest as if he were the most precious thing in the world. And he was, Jack thought. Between the beautiful fairy lying in the bed next to him, and the fuzzy baby cradled in his arms, there was nothing more important to him on earth.

Gazing lovingly down at his firstborn son, Jack whispered, "When you're older, I am going to have one crazy story to tell you."

THE END

That's the end of my Rise of the Guardians saga.

If I write any more of them, they won't be related to the three I already have.

I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave me a review, I friggin' love those things!


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